Today, legendary Italian graphic designer Massimo Vignelli celebrates his eighty-second birthday. Besides the iconic New York City subway map, for which he remains best-known, Vignelli has worked on some of the twentieth century’s most memorable packaging, identity, and public signage for clients like IBM, American Airlines, and Bloomingdale’s.
I took this excerpt from a longer interview Massimo did with Debbie Millman (another hero of mine) , re-published by Maria Popova (yet another hero) – and am passing it on because i thought it was so dead on and would resonate with you as well – the notion that elegance boils down to intellectual elegance.
auntie, for me this also spoke to why your business is all it is today – your “continual search for the best and for the sublime, creating for everything that surrounds us a level of quality.” love you all. xo
MV: When I talk about elegance, I mean intellectual elegance. Elegance of the mind.
DM: How would you define elegance of the mind?
MV: I would define intellectual elegance as a mind that is continually refining itself with education and knowledge. Intellectual elegance is the opposite of intellectual vulgarity. We all know vulgarity very well. Elegance is the opposite.
DM: I have to ask: What would you consider to be vulgar?
MV: Vulgarity is something underneath culture and education. Anything that is not refined.
DM: Why do you think people are fascinated by vulgarity?
MV: Because it is easier to absorb. Elegance is about education and refinement, and it is a by-product of a continual search for the best and for the sublime. And it is a continuous refusal of indulging in anything that is vulgar. It’s a job.
He offers an articulate definition of what design is really about:
It is to decrease the amount of vulgarity in the world. It is to make the world a better place to be. But everything is relative. There is a certain amount of latitude between what is good, what is elegant, and what is refined that can take many, many manifestations. It doesn’t have to be one style. We’re not talking about style, we’re talking about quality. Style is tangible, quality is intangible. I am talking about creating for everything that surrounds us a level of quality.
“If you do it right, it will last forever.” – Massimo Vignelli
